The Long March Of Time
by Umbramatic
Summary: An exploration of well-known legends and stories yet untold in the Pokemon universe.
1. Introduction and Origins

**Introduction**

I have done it.

After many years of studying ancient mythologies, unearthing artifacts, and examining the brainwaves of Xatu and certain long-lived Pokémon, I have composed a history of our world. This history is by no means complete – it still has many holes, holes I intend to fill by visiting new regions and interviewing new people, as well as studying more ancient Pokémon. Nor is it intended to be a textbook- no, this is a story, a story that deserves to be told with passion and vigor, not just for route memorization. (Putting the story in history, as the saying goes.) There are things in here that every schoolchild will know, and then there are things only known because of intense scrutiny, this world's darkest secrets. It is a story of mighty gods, powerful civilizations, and the various people and Pokémon that eventually led to the world we know today.

And it all started with an egg.

**Chapter 1: Origins**

At first, there was only the maelstrom. Existing outside of time and space - for they themselves did not exist yet - this storm, the embodiment of chaos itself, whirled constantly, seemingly neverending.

Then by some miracle, came the egg.

It was simple and white, and not really anything you'd expect a universe-creating deity to pop out of. But, in a split second that lasted for an eternity, it cracked. The crack grew, and grew, until the egg looked like it was ready to burst. A few seconds later, it did burst, and in a flash of light revealed the first Pokémon ever to live.

Its white body stood out starkly in the blackness of the void. The wheel-like structure in the center of its body glowed with an eerie light. Its eyes, red and green, gazed through the nothingness with curiosity.

Today we know this being as Arceus.

The bits of eggshell –thousands, maybe millions of them – began to absorb some of the chaos. They were imbued with strange and wonderful powers, elemental powers that would literally shape the world to come. These shells became the elemental Plates. They converged toward Arceus, and it absorbed them.

Then, it started creating.

At first, it created sub-atomic particles without really thinking about it. Then, when Arceus realized it could create things, it began creating actual atoms. Those atoms formed into molecules, and those molecules formed into specks of dust. As Arceus' creating power and skill began to grow, so did the cloud of dust, until Arceus decided to try something new, and started thinking about what would happen if the dust converged. And with that thought, the dust did converge, through this new law called gravity, until the pressure in the center was so great a chemical reaction started. The atoms in the dust particles began fusing together, creating massive amounts of heat that fused more atoms, and it went on and on until something spectacular happened.

The first star was born.

The young Arceus was thrilled by this development. it had created his own light to cast away the darkness. It soon wished it could create more. As soon as Arceus realized it could, a new star appeared. Then another, and another, until the space around him was filled with stars.

But Arceus wasn't satisfied by just stars. It created smaller balls of rock and gas to spin around some of the stars. He created nebulas, as a cradle for newborn stars. It even created the first asteroids and comets to spice things up. As its power grew, the objects began to group together into a massive cloud of stars, until what we now know as a galaxy finally formed. Then Arceus simply waved one of its slender hooves, and more galaxies appeared. After that, it ran through empty space, new galaxies appearing in its wake.

By the time Arceus stopped running and turned around, a young universe lay before it.

But Arceus, as powerful as it was, was not immune to fatigue. Creating an entire universe was tiring for it, and Arceus decided it needed to sleep. But there was one problem that it needed to address first –

Who would take care of this new world?

Then Arceus had an epiphany. Why should it be the only creature in this universe? Drawing on the power of the plates it had absorbed, it created three new creatures from itself- a steel dragon, a water dragon, and a ghostly dragon. These creatures we know today as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. The first was charged with enforcing the laws of Time. The second was assigned the maintenance of Space. The third was given rule over antimatter, dark matter, and everything else that bent the laws of space and time.

However, the young Giratina was boisterous and prone to temper tantrums, and occasionally bullied its siblings. Arceus responded by giving Giratina a home in the alternate dimension known as the Distortion World, which, aside from a few incidences, is its home to this day. Arceus created alternate dimensions for Dialga and Palkia as well, though he allowed them to venture out more frequently.

Arceus then created an egg from itself, from which three new Pokémon hatched. These spritelike beings are today known as the Trio of Spirit – Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Arceus gave them charge over the spirit of any beings that would be born in this new universe, and tasked them with spreading its plates throughout the universe, so that they could be of use to life at some later point.

And with that, Arceus retreated to a pocket dimension of its own and fell asleep, waiting for when the universe would need him again.

The Trio of Spirit went straight to work, scattering plates throughout different planets in the universe. For millions of years, they flew through space, putting plates on small rocky planets that looked like they could support life.

Finally, they too needed to rest, and they settled down at the edge of a spiral galaxy, on a small planet near a medium-sized yellow star.

But as soon as they arrived, they decided the planet needed something extra.


	2. Worldbuilding

**Chapter 2: Worldbuilding**

When the lake trio descended to the rocky surface of the planet, they realized it wasn't yet a suitable place to rest. The ground was barren, the sky was red, and the few pools of water that did exist on the planet were caustic and noxious-smelling. Their senses detected no other life on this world.

So they decided to create some of their own.

Using the power of the plates they had brought with them, particularly the ones now known as Mind Plates, they created a small pink being with an extraordinary power: It could rearrange its own molecular structure, it's own DNA, and transform into whatever living being it desired to be. Once the creature was fully formed, it opened its pale blue eyes, and said its first word.

"Mew."

And so the Pokémon which brought life to this planet named itself.

After letting Mew get its bearings, moving around and playing with its creators, they gave the new species explicit instructions on what to do. For you see, Mew was not just capable of rearranging its whole form – it could alter and rearrange individual cells in its body as well. And so Mew went on a journey across the entire planet, seeding the caustic pools of water with its cells.

These cells were specifically altered by Mew to be sturdy and survive in the cesspools, but a few were altered by the power of one of the plates – specifically, the one known in modern times as the Meadow Plate. In those particular cells, the power materialized in the form of a chemical – a compound known as chlorophyll. The cells became the first algae, and they started absorbing light from the planet's sun to use as food. In the process, they left one vital byproduct:

Oxygen.

This gas, this elixir that would be vital to life in the years to come, filtered out of the acidic pools and started leaking into the atmosphere. It took a few million years, but soon the air was filled with this simple gas.

And the skies were finally blue.

But the Trio Of Spirit wanted more. They knew that for life to thrive, they needed more water – and high enough terrain to form continents.

So they beseeched two of their draconic siblings for help, and they answered.

Dialga used the power of the Earth Plates on minerals in the ground to create a massive, crimson, reptilian behemoth, with thick armor plates and glowing blue ridges on its body. Palkia, in turn, used the Splash Plates on chemicals in the water to create a whale-like leviathan, with glowing red markings adoring its skin. These Pokémon were named Groudon and Kyogre by humanity billions of years later. For now, they just had a job to do.

Kyogre created rainclouds out of thin air, and they began to pour onto the surface of the planet, turning the pools of water into oceans. Groudon, meanwhile, began to form the continents, using its power to push them out up from the seas, and using its ability to intensify the sun's rays to dry the new landmasses out.

It was virtually no time at all before the world started looking like the ocean-and continent mixture it is today, and for a while things seemed to be looking good.

But then Groudron noticed that Kyogre had a far vaster kingdom than it did.

It confronted its fellow world-shaper, and they began to argue over which was better - land or sea. It wasn't long before it escalated into a full-on brawl.

The resulting conflict was devastating. As the two clashed, continents were formed and submerged, and oceans expanded then dried up due to the raging power of the legendary Pokémon. The Trio Of Spirit, Dialga, Palkia, and even little Mew tried to stop them, both verbally and physically. But nothing worked. The fighting raged on, earthquakes and tsunamis and all. Life on earth, as primitive and hardy as it was, was in dire danger.

So the other primordial Legends reluctantly called on their last resort: Giratina.

Fortunately, Giratina had matured somewhat by then and decided to help his siblings out. He used the Draco Plates, the Sky plates, and gases in the ozone layer of the planet to create a Pokémon that would tame the fighting duo – the Pokémon we now know as Rayquaza, master of the skies.

Rayquaza descended to his fighting fellows and asked them what was wrong. When Groudron complained about Kyogre having more space on the planet than he did, Rayquaza came up with a quick solution.

He explained to Groudon that since water was more necessary for life than land was, it made sense that Kyogre would get more territory than Groudon did. However, he also reminded Kyogre to not be stuck-up about that fact that it had the larger domain. He reprimanded them both for ruining each other's good work, especially when they had worked together so well before the argument.

Whether Giratina made Rayquaza to be a convincing negotiator, or if he was just that way by nature, no one knows. Either way, to the surprise of the other legends, its speech to the angry duo worked. Groudron and Kyogre agreed to stop the argument and fix what they had broken.

The first two put the continents and oceans back in their proper places, while Rayquaza gave his contribution: thickening the atmosphere of the planet. After that, the exhausted Ground-type and Water-type dug themselves into the planet's crust and fell asleep, remaining so for the next few billion years.

Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were tired too, and they finally found a place to rest – three lakes on a small continent. In the eons to come they would move from lake to lake as the ones they resided in dried up, but they rarely stayed awake for long. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina also retreated to their home dimensions. Only two conscious Pokémon remained on the planet: Mew and Rayquaza.

But it wouldn't be that way for long.

First, the Spirit Trio had scattered the Plates throughout the planet, just like they had done on so many others. One Flame Plate fell into a volcano, and its increased power in its natural element took the form of the gender-bending Heatran. This Pokémon would influence volcanic activity for ages to come, changing the course of history many a time.

Second, the primitive, single-celled lifeforms survived after the conflict between Groudon and Kyogre, and they thrived in this new, ocean-rich world. After about a billion years, they had evolved into the first, simple multicelular organisms.

They were destined to be the first nonlegendary Pokémon.


	3. Primeval

**Chapter 3: Primeval**

_Note: a couple others others who have seen this chapter have commented that it's the most boring one - either because it's too much like Earth history or because it's too textbook-esqe. If you too find it boring, feel free to skip it, as it mostly serves to explain things and doesn't have _too_ much impact on the rest of the plot._

At first, these simple lifeforms weren't much to look at. Worm and jellyfish-like creatures, along with a few sponges and such, were the largest, most complex creatures around.

But after a while (a couple billion years, to be precise) Mew decided it was time for a change.

It used its ability to alter its own molecular structure to change into a form that could alter the genes of other creatures; it is thought that this form was bright blue, as opposed to Mew's normal pink. It "seeded" the primitive organisms with this new power, changing the makeup of their DNA.

The result was nothing short of spectacular.

An explosion of new life occurred in a relatively short amount of time. A host of new animals appeared and thrived, in a variety of shapes and sizes. These new creatures were the first true nonlegendary Pokémon, and they were different from their ancestors in many ways.

In addition to being far more complex than earlier life, these prehistoric Pokémon had the signature elemental powers they're so famous for today. Additionally, perhaps as a holdover from Mew's ability to transform, they were capable of a metamorphosis-like process we now refer to as "evolution." (Confusingly, both this process and evolution by natural selection are referred to as evolution; for the purposes of this account the latter will be referred to as "development".)

One of the top predators of the era was Anorith, a vaguely-crustacean-esqe Pokémon with eight fins and claw-like mouthparts. It fed on other Pokémon by snatching them with its claws and eating at them with its other mouthparts. One Pokémon that was particularly delicious to the Anorith species was Kabuto – another crustacean-esqe Pokémon whose body was covered by a brown shell on all but the bottom, where its legs and two of its four eyes were.

Eventually, plants started coming up onto land, starting with mats of algae and eventually developing into the first stalked plants. These were quickly followed by arthropod Pokémon. To take advantage of this new habitat, both Anorith and Kabuto developed the ability to change into new forms – Armaldo and Kabutops, respectively. Both of them were predators, and so their rivalry changed from a typical predator-prey relationship to one between competing hunters. After a few million years the Kabutops won out, and Anorith and Armaldo faded into extinction.

But the reign of Kabutops as the apex predator wouldn't last long either, as a new family of Pokémon came into play. These swimming Pokémon had spines, which eventually formed into backbones, and their skeletons were on the inside rather than out. These were the first fish Pokémon, and they would take the oceans by storm.

They started as jawless creatures, but gradually gained jaws over time. This allowed them to move into predatory roles, crunching their prey with either extensions of their armored plates or true teeth. Their numbers grew until they were some of the sea's dominant lifeforms. For predators like Kabutops it was a mixed bag: new prey was plentiful, but so were new predators. In addition, cephalopod Pokémon appeared which gladly fed on both Kabuto and Kabutops.

For a while, land was the domain of the arthropods, some of which grew to enormous sizes. Plants altered by the vigilant Mew – the first Grass-type Pokémon – thrived as well. However, after a few million years, fish Pokémon with lobelike fins – distant relatives of the modern Relicanth – began crawling up onto land. Over the course of millennia they developed lungs and toes, and their fins atrophied, until they had become the first amphibian Pokémon. But they still had a long way to go from there.

For a long period of time bugs were still dominant on land. Even today's biggest Bug-types were dwarfed by these monsters. The amphibian Pokémon had a hard time surviving, but slowly but surely they adapted. They became faster, sleeker; they became less dependent on the water from which they came, and soon enough started preying on the smaller bugs. Eventually, the oxygen-heavy forests gave way to scrubland as the climate dried out. By then, the land-dwelling descendants of the amphibian Pokémon had diverged into two groups – reptile Pokémon, and proto-mammal Pokémon (which still looked much like their distant reptile cousins.)

The proto-mammal Pokémon soon became dominant, starting with various sail-backed forms that eventually gave way to lumbering herbivores and saber-toothed carnivores. The reptiles and amphibians diversified as well, but the largest of those were crocodile-like species in the case of the amphibians and enormous bulky creatures similar to shell-less turtles in the case of the reptiles. Aside from those exceptions, they remained small and inconspicuous while the mammal precursors reigned. The giant bugs declined as well, with one notable exception: Genesect, a vicious Pokémon that was able to survive and thrive as an apex predator during the era.

But the kingdom of the proto-mammals was about to meet a bloody end.

To this day, nobody knows how it happened. Not even the Zatu, which see into the past, were able to yield anything. Some say the collision of the continents into one supercontinent angered Heatran, causing an unnatural upsurge in volcanic activity. Others say that the changing climate got out of control. Whatever the reason, life was devastated.

Nine out of every ten species were wiped out. Kabuto, Kabutops, Genesect, the vast majority of the protomammals, the giant turtle-esqe reptiles – all were obliterated in the mass extinction. What was remarkable was not so much that so many things died out, but that some managed to survive.

A few small Pokémon species - most of them burrowers – weathered out the cataclysmic event. These lucky survivors were able to eke out a living in what remained of their old world, and due to the newly-fused continents, a few were able to spread around the globe. But their numbers remained low.

But Mew, ever-vigilant, was undaunted. It began to mutate creatures again, and this, combined with the plethora of unfilled ecological niches, meant that life slowly began to reclaim its diversity.

For a few million years, reptile Pokémon and protomammal Pokémon existed in relatively equal numbers. The herbivorous protomammals developed into lumbering creatures with beaks and tusks, while the carnivorous ones became more and more mammal-like. The reptiles developed into primitive gliders, swimmers, and even a few large land-dwelling predators.

But one group of reptiles began to outstrip the rest. Instead of a sprawling, four-legged stance, they walked on two legs placed right beneath their bodies. This allowed them to run faster, dodge quicker, and use their claws and teeth to great effect. We now know these Pokémon by one collective name.

Dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs didn't have it too easy at first. Giant Pokémon distantly related to the modern Totodile and Sandile lines were their main competitors, and the dinosaurs compensated by getting larger and larger - particularly in the case of the herbivores. But it would be another natural disaster that cinched the situation for the dinosaur Pokémon.

A large meteorite impacted the planet a few hundred miles from what is now the Unova region. This event wiped out most of the protomammals and croc-like reptiles, but the dinosaurs came out fairly well. With various ecological niches unoccupied yet again, it didn't take long for them to diversify even more.

The age of dinosaurs had begun.

But what of the protomammals, the former rulers of the planet? A few small forms survived the meteor strike – in fact, these small Pokémon had gone beyond being protomammals and were actually true mammals. Though one day they would have their chance at ruling the planet again, their small size meant that for now they stood no hope of taking the world back from the dinosaurs.

Said dinosaurs continued to thrive. The large herbivores grew even larger, until they became the largest Pokémon ever to walk on land. The predators grew bigger in response, becoming massive meat-eaters that sometimes hunted in packs. Regardless, small herbivores and carnivores proliferated as well.

In the sky, the gliding Pokémon from before the meteor impact had become true flyers. They were mostly small fish and insect eaters, but a few grew to enormous sizes – the biggest of them all being Areodactyl, a predator that swooped down to rip apart its prey – which was practically anything it could catch and kill.

But soon Areodactyl and its relatives would have to share the skies. A group of small carnivorous dinosaurs eventually developed a new body covering to keep themselves warm – feathers. These feathers were son adapted for other uses – one in particular being gliding. It wasn't too long before the gliders developed into true flyers – the first of which were Archen and its evolved form Archeops, both of which are considered to be the first ever bird Pokémon. For now, they were relatively poor flyers, but over millions of years their descendants would improve on their craft, beginning to overtake even Areodactyl's relatives.

In the seas, reptiles other than dinosaurs flourished as well. Sea serpents, long-necked fish eaters and fish-shaped reptile Pokémon stalked the seas for prey. Turtles did well too – Tirtouga and Carracosta swan the seas, hunting prey which included the cephalopods Omanyte and Omastar, whose shells they crunched with thick beaks.

Back on land, the giant herbivores gave way to smaller - but still massive – competitors, at least in the northern continents. Instead of relying on size, they had armor plates, thick hooves and various natural weapons to assist them in defending themselves from predators. Of note are Sheildon and Bastiodon – whose faces were armored and, in the case of the latter, were covered in spikes – and Cranidos and Rampardos, whose thick skulls allowed them to headbutt enemies. Flowering plants appeared around this time too - which led to new breeds of Grass and Bug-type Pokémon.

For a while, life was good for the dinosaurs and other reptiles of the era. However, after 150 million years, that all came to an end.

A second impact occurred, this one much larger than the first. It was big enough that it could have been caused by an asteroid or comet. The impact sent seismic waves through the planet's crust, causing earthquakes and tidal waves across the globe. Clouds of dust catapulted into the sky, blotting out the sun.

The cataclysm wiped out the dinosaur Pokémon, as well as the reptilian flyers and many of the sea-dwelling giants. The rest of the planet's life didn't get off easy either – even those that survived had their numbers seriously reduced. When they sky finally cleared, a wasteland remained.

Once again, Mew mutated the surviving life, and they expanded into the now-empty niches. This time, however, it was the mammals – which had remained small and weak throughout the entire dinosaur era – who exploded into a variety of new forms. Their turn to be the dominant lifeforms had come again.

They stayed small, for a while. Then, as the forests that sprung up immediately after the extinction faded away, they began getting larger, and larger – until some of them rivaled even the dinosaurs in size. There were many of these new mammalian Pokémon – from massive beasts distantly related to modern Rhyperior to feline and canine-like carnivores. The ancestors of Zubat and Woobat took to the air, while the ancestors of Wailmer and Wailord took to the seas. There were mammals everywhere – but the older groups had not completely faded away.

The dinosaurs, for example, had not been completely wiped out – the flying forms, the birds, still remained. Over time, their numbers grew until they almost completely ruled the skies, and had as great a diversity of forms as both their dinosaur ancestors and the mammals that ruled the land. The reptile Pokémon had certain groups thrive even more than they did in the dinosaur era, and some re-learned how to fly - becoming the first flying Dragon-types. Amphibians still lived in the swamps, and fish and crustaceans and such still roamed the rivers and seas. Bugs were still plentiful, and throwbacks to the giant bugs of old appeared. Overall, it was not so much an age of mammals as an age of all Pokémon; then again, that could be said for most of the previous eras, to boot.

All these Pokémon lived well for the next few million years, going about their lives. Some species thrived, many others died out, and over time they began to resemble the Pokémon of today.

Eventually the Ice Ages hit, and many Pokémon had to adapt to the cold. Mamoswine appeared and thrived during this era. The ice-ages became a cycle, coming and going for a few thousand years before finally stopping.

As the reader, you're probably expecting to hear mention of humans. However, there were no humans at this point – their ancestors hadn't even appeared yet. For now, this planet was the sole domain of Pokémon.

However, after the ice ages finally ended, two Pokémon species began to stand above the rest.


	4. Forerunners

**Chapter 4: Forerunners**

Most Pokémon are rather intelligent – they can understand each other's languages, work together with humans and other species of Pokemon, and even know the difference between good and evil. However, most wild Pokémon live animalistic lives, to the point their smarts are often underestimated. This is true for even the most intelligent Pokemon of them all: Alakazam and Metagross.

For years human scientists have studied why this is. Why do these two Pokémon lead such simple lives? Why did creatures smarter and stronger than humanity never form any sort of civilization?

Turns out, they did.

They started small, at first. Precursors to each species made their slow crawl towards sapience. Primitive Alakazam used their budding psychic powers as tools. Proto-Metagross learned how to "herd" food Pokemon, and eventually began to domesticate them. It wasn't long before each species began to form nomadic groups that moved with their herd Pokémon or to find new food resources. Soon after that, they settled down and started building villages.

On opposite sides of the world, civilization gradually began to form.

Villages turned into towns, and towns turned into kingdoms. One Alakazam empire began to outstrip the rest, with its emphasis on learning and study of the world around them. A similar yet different empire arose among the Metagross – while similarly powerful, it was more warlike to match the Metagross' more aggressive, predatory nature. Strangely, both empires had yet to encounter each other, which was a good thing – they probably would have destroyed each other right then and there.

Though there were various rebellions in the Alakazam Empire, most of them were quashed quickly. Ironically, a rebellion among the Metagross was more successful – and it even resulted in a more peaceable, democratic nation after it was over. Both empires continued to grow and thrive for the next 2000 years.

Then, a group of Alakazam set out west on a sailing ship, on a scientific expedition to see what Pokemon lived on the western continents. When they landed on one of those continents, they were met with a surprise.

The Metagross greeted them heartily, though they were more than a little suspicious about their new visitors. They showed them things Alakazam had never seen before- like how to farm animals instead of just plants. In turn, the Alakazam showed the Metagross things like paper and ink, which they promoted as vastly superior to the stone tablets Metagross used. Things seemed to be going well.

Then, one Alakazam, who had gotten rather bored, started moving around a stone relic using its psychic powers. When another Alakazam called its name, it lost its concentration and dropped the statue, shattering it.

The Metagross broke into a frenzy. The stone relic- a statue of a legendary Metagross leader - was particularly sacred to them, and they were furious that it had been destroyed. Only a few Alakazam managed to escape the carnage that ensued.

When they returned to their homeland, they told wild tales of vicious savages and demanded war. The Alakazam troops immediately mobilized, heading across the ocean to do battle.

Halfway through their trip they discovered the Metagross had done the same.  
>The initial sea battle was brutal, to say the least. The Metagross warriors easily crushed the Alakazam troopers under their massive feet. At the same time, the Alakazam were able to throw the Metagross overboard with their psychic powers, and they sunk like rocks.<p>

After a long and bloody fight, the Alakazam retreated, and the Metagross celebrated their first victory.

It wouldn't last long.

Soon afterwards, the Alakazam developed a weapon that was both physical and psychological- a new psychic attack that could scramble the magnetic network of the Metagross' brain. The few Alakazam warriors that were able to master it attacked the Metagross homeland, attacking Beldum and Metang as well. The Metagross responded by attacking in numbers, and by developing a psychic attack of their own.

And those were just the first few months of a long and bloody war that lasted over a decade.

Alakazam developed weapons that could penetrate the thick hides of the Metagross, as well as building-crushing weapons of massive size. The Metagross, on the other hand, focused on attacking the fragile bodies of their Alakazam enemies, as well as developing building-crushing weapons of their own. Child soldiers were recruited on both sides. Many, many died.

It seemed like nothing could stop the war. But something did.

Over millions of years, Mew had given more power to some Pokemon than to others. Those Pokemon became gods, many of the legendaries we know today – Celebi, Latias, Latios, Jirachi, Manaphy, Shaymin, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Melloeta, an ancient dragon whose name remains unknown, and others. Now, Mew called upon them and its primordial brothers to end this war.

They appeared before the fighting Metagross and Alakazam en masse. The combatants stopped and stared in awe. For a moment, they thought the end of the world had come.  
>Then the Trio of Spirit issued a decree: If the war would stop, the legendaries would help rebuild all the cities that had been destroyed during the war.<p>

Miraculously, the Alakazam and Metagross accepted. Weary of the war and intimidated by the amassing legendaries, they signed a truce and began to rebuild. It was long work, made somewhat faster by the powers of the legendaries. But in the end, the new, combined civilization of Alakazam and Metagross was greater than anything that came before. And it would soon be even greater.

After the legendaries left, the Alakazam and Metagross, working together, experienced a golden age of innovation and technology. The invention of the printing press, the use of steam power, the creation of a network of electrical circuits, radio, satellites, television, and even the internet happened at a pace that would make any human envious. It didn't take long for the Alakazam-Metagross civilization to become so advanced they could enhance themselves – improving their neural networks and enlarging their brains to become even smarter and more proficient with psychic powers than ever before.

In addition to improving themselves, they created new breeds of Pokémon: the Magnemite line, the Baltoy line, the Bronzor line, Rotom, and others were created, all apparently reproducing by the same mysterious method as Metagross, which remains unknown to this day. All proved useful in helping the society work – Magnemite helped with construction, Baltoy were useful security, Bronzong provided weather control for crops, and Rotom could find what was wrong with the appliances that it possessed, so they could be fixed.

For 700 years they thrived. But one individual would bring it all crashing down.

One Metagross had read about the war and came to the conclusion that they were the rightful leaders of the Alakazam. It gathered up a group of followers and hatched a plan.

One day, during a celebration of the 700th anniversary of the civilization, a vehicle carrying the Alakazam President was attacked by Metagross. Despite the attempts of the Alakazam guards, the leader was killed.

The outrage that followed made the various small wars between the subnations of the civilization seem tiny by comparison.  
>The Alakazam cracked down on the Metagross, strictly policing them and executing any opposition. In response, the Metagross organized an even bigger rebellion, destroying an entire Alakazam city. Soon, once again, the war lines were between species rather than ideologies.<p>

Both Alakazam and Metagross had learned to split atoms long ago. Formerly, they simply used this power source for energy. Now, however, they began to create nuclear weapons. They stockpiled massive amounts until they had enough to destroy the world several times over.

The legendaries took notice.

At first, they decided not to interfere again, thinking that now the Alakazam and Metagross were smarter they would manage to settle things by themselves.

But then the Alakazam launched several of their missiles at the nearest Metagross outpost. The Metagross counteracted with their own missiles, and they both destroyed wide swaths of land, killing millions.

But they both began plans to launch nearly all their weapons at once. The legendaries ammased and pleaded before a group of battling warriors again, but that time, the Alakazam and Metagross just fired their weapons at them.

And that's when the legendaries decided to do something they hoped they would never have to do.

When the ancient dragon proposed it, they all resisted at first. But when they realized it was either the Alakazam and Metagross or all life on the planet, they reluctantly agreed.

First, Celebi spirited away all the Beldum, Metang, Abra, and Kadabra in the night. Then, in the confusion that followed, they got to work.

The leveled every building they could find, from the tiniest house to the biggest skyscraper. Vehicles and other machines were also destroyed. Windstorms and earthquakes and meteor showers and tidal waves and lava flows decimated the cities. Billions of citizens died in the process. Only a few managed to escape the carnage. When ships from the many space stations that had popped up in recent years tried to return to the planet, they were blasted out of the sky by Rayquaza. By the time all the legendaries were done, all that was left was rubble.

None of the legendaries enjoyed this; most of them swore never to do anything of the sort again. But they all though it was necessary to prevent the planet from being destroyed.

The civilization of the Alakazam and Metagross never recovered. Even after the children were brought to a time about a hundred years into the future, forests and fields had regrown where the cities once lay. Eventually the satellites fell, and the irradiated areas recovered, but the Alakazam and Metagross never rebuilt. For a few generations, they were resentful of the legendaries, and each other, but the resentment died out as they led more animalistic lives. But memories of their lost civilization still lingered, as well as the Pokemon they created. In fact, it probably would have started all over again, if it weren't for two factors.

One of those factors was the Missingno. 


	5. Arrival

**Chapter 5: Arrival**

They have existed since almost the beginning, perhaps since before the beginning. Those few that know of their existence are divided on how the Missingno came to be. Some say they formed from pieces of the original chaos that existed before the world began. Others say they were created by the mischievous young Giratina, before he had a true grasp on his powers. Yet others say they came here from another universe, or even the space between universes. However they came here, the Missingno are truly terrifying to behold.

They use illusions to keep their true appearance secret, but those unlucky enough to see one's true form but lucky enough to live to tell the tale say that they look like deformed, skeletal birds, with two wings and four legs. They are said to warp reality itself, and most dangerously of all, they can use those reality warping-powers to summon beings from across the universe - or even from other universes.

At first, the earliest legendaries didn't know what to do with them, despite their initial urge to destroy them. Then Uxie had an idea. They would allow the Missingno to live on the planet, as long as they provided one vital service: summon non-superpowered organisms from other universes to keep the ecosystem in balance.

And so for millions of years they preformed the mundane job of summoning bugs and plants and fungi and microbes to spread across the planet. Some of the organisms got lucky and were seeded with Mew's DNA, but the rest remained food for the rapidly developing Pokémon species.

The Missingno, on the other hand, thrived in the background – but were bored to tears. To them, the job was bland, and didn't cause nearly enough chaos for their liking - for the Missingno loved chaos, and wished to cause as much of it as possible.

They tried to mix things up a little – by summoning bizarre alien beings that eventually became Pokémon like Lunatone, Solrock, Cleffa, and Staryu - but that wasn't enough. For most of their long lives, they remained bored as ever.

Then came the rise of the Alakazam and Metagross. At first, the Missingno regarded them with only mild curiosity. Only when they started to get organized and the first territorial brawls got started did the Missingno really get interested.

They loved the chaos that these new sapient beings caused among each other. They loved the chaos that the two species, for a while, caused between each other. They hated the peaceful times that came later, but enjoyed the occasional ideological war that sprung up (and even caused a few). And most of all, they adored the explosive, cataclysmic end.

They wanted more, and as soon as possible. They didn't want to wait for the Alakazam and Metagross to rebuild, and doubted it would even happen. So, a group of Misssingno decided they'd bring chaos to the world another way.

They gathered together in a secluded area, and began to create massive portals to another universe. On the other side, strange creatures were drawn, as if hypnotized, to the portals. These creatures were relatively small, and weak, and had no elemental powers, but they had intelligence, and passion, and could use them both to terrible, wonderful, effect. They stepped through the portals, not knowing they would change the Pokémon world for all time.

Humanity had arrived.

They came from a world gone wrong, a world where only the elite had advanced technology and the rest were forced to feed, figuratively and literally, on the scraps they left behind. The humans who stepped through the portal were part of "the rest," and for the most part the only possessions they brought with them were herds of livestock, who had also been drawn by the hypnotic nature of the Missingno gateway.

They would create a world better than the one they left, in time, but for now, they were helpless, and vulnerable, and the Missingno weren't willing to help them survive much.

Humanity- and the food creatures they brought with them - were easy prey for some of the larger, more vicious Pokémon that inhabited the world. They attacked livestock, children, even adults- anything they could get their claws on. Even though millions of people came through the portals, only a fraction of them managed to survive. They tried to fight them off with improvised weapons- rocks, sticks, etc. – but those were no match for the superpowered creatures.

Humans weren't so nice to the weaker Pokémon either – but out of necessity. They often caught and killed small rodent and fish Pokémon and ate them, to help themselves survive. Unfortunately, said Pokémon were proficient at fighting back, and so the humans were often left who empty stomachs. Humanity looked like it was doomed to die out in this new world it had inadvertently strayed into.

But then some Pokémon – a select few species that were more intelligent than most and even had a sense of nobility – began to take pity on the humans. They decided they'd do something about humanity's plight.

The first to do so was the Lucario species, who came to the simple settlements the humans created and began to defend them against marauding attackers – particularly their mortal enemy Zoroark, which used its illusions to attack humans with ease until the Lucario used their aura abilities to sniff them out.

More Pokémon soon came to help the humans, and when that started to happen humans realized that with enough food and a little bit of force they could convince other Pokémon to protect them as well.

And so began the process of capturing Pokémon in their first stage of evolution and keeping them as guards against other Pokémon. Most fully-evolved Pokémon- and pretty much all dragon-types- were considered untamable, so they had to start out small. At first, these first stage Pokémon had little advantage against their evolved wild counterparts, but then the humans discovered something remarkable.

They discovered that the elemental powers of Pokémon interacted in dramatic ways – and that they caused Pokémon to be strong against some types of elemental powers and weak against others. They quickly gained knowledge of what was effective and what wasn't, and used that to quickly defeat wild Pokémon. The Pokémon that they tamed, as a result, grew stronger until they evolved as well, making them even more effective in defending their new human allies.

However, Pokémon are pugnacious by nature, and even when the humans were not under siege they had a strong urge to fight. The humans decided that instead of letting them express that urge by trashing their villages, they could get their tamed Pokémon to fight each other in friendly competitions. The sport of Pokémon battling was born.

But as well as the humans were doing, they were about to have a major blow struck against them.

The Missingno, seeing how successful the humans were now, decided to move on to the next phase of their plan. They decided they would manipulate human history to repeat their chaos-filled past until they eventually either destroyed themselves, got destroyed by the legendaries, or, if push came to shove, the Missingno themselves had to destroy them. However, they knew the humans would have a sense of déjà vu if they manipulated history without manipulating the minds of the humans in some way. So, they did.

They used their reality warping powers to wipe all memory of the humans' home universe, and all the memories of technology and history that came with it. The humans fell a step backward almost overnight. If it weren't for their loyal Pokemon companions, they could have been wiped out due to this manipulation of their minds.

But some Pokémon took notice.

The Alakazam were among the Pokémon that the humans had tamed. Metagross, on the other hand, were considered untamable, but they watched from the sidelines. Both Pokémon, with their psychic powers, noticed that something strange had occurred with the minds of the humans.

Human civilization had given them a great boost. The Alakazam and Metagross were able to get organized again, and working together for the first time in thousands of years, they were able to discover what the Missingno were doing. This shocking discovery led them to form a new pact, with a new mission – stop the Missingno from achieving their goal at all costs.

The legendaries were not oblivious to what had happened with the Missingno either- but, due to what happened last time, they were afraid to interfere again. And so they sat back and waited.

In the midst of all this, the humans and their Pokemon companions continued to do well. Once again, the villages became towns, then cities, then entire kingdoms.

A new era was about to begin.


	6. Turmoil

**The Long March of Time**

**Chapter 6: Turmoil**

Humanity's new reign, like all, started small. Most of the human settlements were isolated, almost feudal kingdoms sustained by their own resources and nothing more. However, some began to seek out greater power, and through trade and conquest new regions began to form, four of which were more prominent than the others.

One of the first was native to the large northern island now known as the Sinnoh region. During their wanderings, groups of nomads discovered the plates that the Spirit Trio had left there billions of years before. The power of the plates was so great that it gave them dreams and visions of the gods that made them. Those who received the visions became revered, and they grew into shamanistic roles and began uniting people and Pokémon under one nation.

Soon, the shamans began building an empire on the slopes of the central mountains of Sinnoh, where, due to their fascination and awe with these beings they saw in their dreams, they commanded their people to build great cities. At the peak of the tallest mountain in Sinnoh, they constructed a massive temple, where they worshipped the seven great creators of their universe – Arceus, the three dragon gods, and the Spirit Trio.

But the Missingno, always watching, saw an opportunity to sow chaos, and gleefully took it.

Their first attempt to bring disorder to the ancient Sinnovians was to cause the cult of Giratina to rebel and try to dominate the others. However, much to the Missingnos' annoyance, the rebellion was quickly quashed, and the name and images of both the sect and Giratina itself were excised from the civilization, and their names became forbidden to even speak of. However, as soon as that chance disappeared, another rose its head.

The gods are far from immune to flattery. While the Spirit trio continued to rest, only watching from afar, Dialga and Palkia saw how much the humans adored them and were overjoyed. They wanted more worshippers, and so, disregarding their original position on interfering, they decided to create a being to help the humans and earn them even more praise. So, they combined rock, ice, and metal into one statue-like being of titanic power – Regigigas.

Regigigas, young and naïve, saw the humans as its "siblings". The humans, on the other hand, saw this literal gift from the gods as the ultimate ally. When it appeared, the ancient Sinnovians paraded it around the streets of their cities, and created statues or rock, ice, and steel to honor it – which, much to their delight, Regigigas changed into living Pokemon with just a touch.

Regigigas, along with its creations Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, were then used for more "practical" purposes. Registeel created more of the golems, and then set out using its massive strength towing nearby islands toward Sinnoh and add them to its landmass so the Sinnovians could conquer them with armies of Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.

But Regigigas, new to the nature of war, was confused and distraught by the actions of its human parents. To it, _all _humans were "brothers and sisters," and it didn't know why they would want to hurt each other. The Missingno viewed the legendary Pokemon's inner turmoil as a tool for their success.

They appeared before Regigigas, whispering to it how the humans didn't really care about it; to them it was merely a living machine, a tool of war. This caused Regigigas to grow even more confused and stressed, until one day it finally snapped.

It and the golems it created went on a rampage, and they destroyed entire cities in their rage. The humans who formerly controlled them tried to stop them, (along with secret help from Alakazam and Metagross) but the titan and its creations were near-unstoppable.

Fortunately for the Sinnovians, the Trio of Spirit, Dialga, and Palkia stepped in to intervene. The Trio of Spirit used their power to cripple Regigigas – cursing it with a lengthy "charging period" for its powers. Dialga and Palkia, not wanting to waste their creation, froze it in time and space and placed it in the basement of the temple that once housed it, and scattered the remaining golems across the world, giving the humans instructions that they must seal them away until Regigigas was truly needed. The two dragons, ashamed at their own selfishness and lack of good judgment, then swore only to interfere with humanity when absolutely necessary.

The Sinnovians then began to rebuild. Many of them had fled to other regions when the titan and its golems rampaged, and of those who stayed there were few left to rebuild the civilization. It took decades for them to truly recover, and even then many of the ancient cities and temples were never rebuilt – they remain ruins to this day.

* * *

><p>The second empire was born of some of those refugees. They fled to a distant land just north of the modern Johto region, but it was bitterly cold, and they had a difficult time surviving. They tried taming herds of Mamoswine, but even that couldn't help them through the cold, so they resorted to hiding in temples built from caves, where they prayed to their old gods – even Giratina – for support.<p>

Their support, however, came from some of the Pokemon they brought with them.

The Alakazam living with the refugees felt what great suffering they were going through, and, feeling empathetic, contacted the local Metagross tribe so they could work together to find some way to help. After much philosophical and ethical discussion on the matter, they came up with an idea.

The Metagross used what little Pokemon-creating skill they had left to make strange creatures called Unown. These Pokemon, whose bodies were modeled on the language of the Alakazam -Metagross empire, were weak, but they could work together in swarms ,and the Alakazam imbued them with a hive mind that was brimming with knowledge about the universe from its conception.

The Alakazam and Metagross then gave the Unknown one simple task: give the humans knowledge.

The Unknown then began populating the temples of the humans, starting with the shrine to Arceus and its dragon children known as the Sinjoh Temple. The humans were utterly fascinated, and thanks to the influence of Unown and Alakazam they began to realize the Unown formed a language.

They adopted this language with enthusiasm, and began following the teachings of the Unown – particularly those about bountiful lands to the south. They soon migrated there, and began forming new cities in the land now known as Johto. To give thanks to the Unown, they constructed a new series of temples called The Shrine of Alph. The Unown themselves enjoyed this new home greatly, but held an innate desire to find new humans to teach. So, they began spreading to other parts of the world, like the Sevii Islands and even Sinnoh.

* * *

><p>The third empire was in the region now known as Hoenn, a warm place lush and full of life. An empire extended all across the mainland and even to the surrounding islands. However, instead of a religion worshipping the creators of the universe, they worshipped the creators of the planet itself: Groudon and Kyogre.<p>

However, the Missingno presence was just as strong as in Sinnoh, and they had similar plans for the humans here. The Missingno created two orbs – one red, and one blue – and presented them to priests of Groudon and Kyogre, respectively. They tempted them with promises of power, saying that the orbs could control the two earth-shaping deities, and that the superiority of their half of the cult could then be proven. The preists, both greedy and ambitious, accepted the orbs, and proceeded to find and awaken their patron gods.

However, the Missingno were consummate liars. The orbs couldn't control the two legendary Pokemon – they actually enhanced their power to the point where even the Pokémon themselves couldn't control them. The two legends clashed once again, each panicking and desperately trying to stop the other from destroying the world they helped create. They would have caused an apocalyptic event – if Rayquaza had not been flying by.

Rayquaza used its own power to quell the powers of the other two just in time, and the grateful, exhausted duo went back to sleep. The ancient Hoennese then hid the two orbs away in a sacred place, so that no person could ever abuse their power again. However, some still thought that either the priest of Groudon or the priest of Kyogre had a point, and they continued to scheme and war against their opposites in secret for millennia after, eventually becoming the notorious Teams Aqua and Magma.

Rayquaza, meanwhile, was outraged that the Missingno dared to cause so much pain to its brethren. It attempted to smite them, but they had already fled – to another region where they could create even more discord.

* * *

><p>The Missingno's next stop was the region of Unova, which was already a land of strife and warring tribes. However, the Missingno were vastly displeased when two brothers showed up to unite the people – with the ancient dragon in tow. The three friends created an empire all by themselves, and it remained peaceful for many years.<p>

The Missingno hated peace – it was far too boring and not nearly chaotic enough. So , they once again began to do what they loved: corrupting those who would work against chaos.

They appeared in the dreams of the brothers, telling them that the other was misguided about either truth or ideals, and that one was inherently better than the other. It didn't take long for the brothers to start arguing, and when the arguments started to escalate, the dragon became so torn over who to support that it literally tore into two beings – Reshiram and Zekrom. The two new dragons sided with their brother of choice, and a bloody civil war began.

However, despite the efforts of the Missingno, the brothers and dragons remorsefully saw that the war was taking far too much of a toll. They made a truce, and peace retuned to Unova for many years.

But the Missingno were patient, and when the sons of the brothers ascended to power, they merely corrupted them, but more thoroughly than the last time. The resulting second civil war was so great that the two dragons unleashed attacks of truly awesome power – and razed Unova in the process.

The brothers, their sons ,and the dragons survived. The brothers banished their sons to faraway lands, and the grief of both Reshiram and Zekrom was so great that they deteriorated into two orbs –one white, one black. The brothers hid the orbs in important locations of the old empire, in hopes heir friends would find someone that represented their respective ideals.

In the meantime, a Volcarona, pitying the humans, used its fire to light the ashen skies of barren Unova, causing plants to grow once again in the ground, and for hope to grow once again in the hearts of the people. They began to rebuild, with this Volcarona as their symbol of rebirth.

Their new empire would turn out to be greater than any that had came before.


End file.
